Intro to UX Methods (KCDC 2013)
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KCDC 2013
Introduction to User Experience Methods
Introduction to User Experience Methods
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Danielle Gobert Cooley @dgcooley
03 May 2013 #KCDC2013
KCDC 2013
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03 May 2013 @dgcooley #KCDC2013
KCDC 2013
Danielle Gobert Cooley
03 May 2013 @dgcooley #KCDC2013
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danielle@dgcooley.com The image cannot be
@dgcooley
14 years as a UX Specialist BE, Biomedical and Electrical Engineering – Vanderbilt University MS, Human Factors in Information Design – Bentley University
Selected Clients
http://linkedin.com/in/dgcooley
KCDC 2013
Important Things to Know About UX Methods
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03 May 2013 @dgcooley #KCDC2013
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Please Remember
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The purpose of these methods is to
inform your design.
They are not validation methods.
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KCDC 2013
Let Me Repeat That
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The purpose of these methods is to
inform your design.
They are not validation methods.
03 May 2013 @dgcooley #KCDC2013
KCDC 2013
You Are Not Your User
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YOU
NOT YOU
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Why Do It? To Avoid Ending Up Here
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One More Thing…
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The purpose of these methods is to
inform your design.
They are not validation methods.
03 May 2013 @dgcooley #KCDC2013
KCDC 2013
Usability Study
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Ques=ons It Answers*
• How easy or difficult is it to use the product?
• How efficiently do people use the product?
• Do the users understand the product’s terminology?
• Do the controls make sense?
• Can people find the information they are seeking?
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* Depends in part on prototype fidelity … more on that in a few moments.
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How It’s Done
1. Recruit representative end users.
2. Observe impartially as they attempt to perform tasks with a prototype.
3. Typically, participants are asked to think aloud as they use the prototype to perform the tasks. This provides insight into WHY certain interface elements are confusing and what might work better.
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Tips… – Recruiting the right users is key! – Avoid bias everywhere – in task phrasing, your and your observers’ body language, and in verbal questions asked. – Recordings are great, but huge time sucks. – Quantitative studies often
aren’t worth it.
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A Note About Prototype Fidelity
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Advantages
• Controlled setting means easier logistics. • Recording and observing is easier, too.
• For the rare quantitative study, lab-based testing makes it easier to use such tools as Morae or Ovo.
• Lab-based testing has fewer variables to control, which can be a factor for more rigid studies.
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Disadvantages
• Lab setting provides no context of use. • Labs can be expensive to rent or build
– (but they don’t have to be)
• Participants are sometimes timid in a lab setting
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Field Study
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Questions It Answers
• How do environmental circumstances affect the usability of the product?
• How have people worked around issues with the product?
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How It’s Done
1. Recruit representative end users.
2. Observe impartially in the environment in which the product will be used as they attempt to perform tasks with a prototype.
3. Collect artifacts.
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Advantages
• Gathers contextual data – Ambient light, noise
– Distractions
• Participants usually less intimidated
• Much more convenient for participants, so recruiting can be easier
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Contextual Inquiry? Though the terms are often used interchangeably, Contextual Inquiry is actually a
type of field study that follows a very specific format.
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Disadvantages
• Logistics are more difficult for researchers. • Observation is more challenging.
• Recording is more challenging. • Security issues sometimes prohibit photographs or
other recording.
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Card Sort
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Questions It Answers
• How would the users organize the product’s content and features?
• Do the users largely agree on how the content should be organized?
• Do the users agree with the categorizations proposed by the project team?
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How It’s Done
1. Recruit representative end users.
2. Identify content items to be categorized
3. Participants sort the content items into groupings that make sense to them.
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Two types … – In an OPEN card sort, participants create the categories.
– In a CLOSED card sort, the researcher establishes the categories.
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Advantages
• Incredibly inexpensive • Done very quickly with remote
evaluation tools.
• Asynchronous, so scheduling is not an issue. Participants take part at their convenience.
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Disadvantages
• More complicated with large sets of cards.
• Really, there’s almost no reason NOT to do a card sort, unless you don’t plan to use the results.
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Tree Test
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Questions It Answers
• Can users find content in the proposed navigation?
• Do the proposed group labels correctly reflect the content within them?
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How It’s Done
1. Recruit representative end users.
2. Set up study with IA to be evaluated.
3. Give participants specific content elements to find in that architecture.
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Advantages
• Incredibly inexpensive • Done very quickly with remote
evaluation tools.
• Asynchronous, so scheduling is not an issue. Participants take part at their convenience.
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Yep. Just like card sorting!
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Disadvantages
• The full IA and nav structure must be created in order to execute a tree test, so there is significant investment in the “prototype,” if you will.
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Tree Test vs. Card Sort – An OPEN Card Sort generates an information
architecture. – A CLOSED Card sort usually evaluates high-level labeling. – A Tree Test evaluates findability in an existing
information architecture.
OK. This one IS a validation method.
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Survey
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Questions It Answers
• What is the users’ opinion about various aspects of the product?
• How do users believe they use or will use the product?
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How It’s Done
1. Recruit participants 2. Write survey
3. Relax while the data rolls right in.
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Advantages
• Cheap • Fast
• Remote • Easy data collection
• Large number of participants
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Disadvantages
• Data are self-reported. – What people do is not the same as what people SAY they do.
• Good question curation is surprisingly challenging.
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Expert Review
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Questions It Answers
• Does the product comply with conventions and best practices?
• Has the expert seen issues in the past with any of the design elements or interaction techniques used in the product?
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How It’s Done
• An experienced UX Specialist analyzes the product, looking for common mistakes or interface elements or interactions that are not consistent with best practices.
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Heuristic Evaluation? Though this term is thrown around a lot, a Heuristic Evaluation is really a specialized type of Expert
Review.
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Advantages
• Considerably less expensive than lab or field studies • Often relatively fast – again, as compared to lab or
field studies.
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Disadvantages
• No actual end-user perspective. • Experts vary. J
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Other Techniques
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In No Particular Order…
• Journaling Studies – Users keep a journal of their interactions (good and bad) with the product.
• A/B Testing – Two different versions of a product are placed online and success rates analyzed.
• Analytics – Web site or product metrics are analyzed to determine user success or failure.
• Personas – Descriptive profiles of representative end users. This is actually an output of field research.
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Recap & Additional Resources
• User Experience is important. Really. • These are NOT validation techniques!
• There are a lot of methods to choose from, and one will yield an answer to your questions.
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